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Yorkshireman and I disagree on very few things, but I think that DiY is fine for very straightforward will. I have made 4 wills in my life:
Married, no kids. DiY, all to my husband, failing that, to my only sibling.
Married, kids. Solicitor, with arrangements made for kids' guardianship & trust.
Married, adult kids, no grandchildren. DiY, all to husband, failing that, equally among children.
Married, grandchildren. Solicitor, who will set up trust for current & future grandchildren, also arrangements for our kids' partners, couldn't possibly be DiY.

Yorkshireman and I disagree on very few things, but I think that DiY is fine for very straightforward will. I have made 4 wills in my life:
Married, no kids. DiY, all to my husband, failing that, to my only sibling.
Married, kids. Solicitor, with arrangements made for kids' guardianship & trust.
Married, adult kids, no grandchildren. DiY, all to husband, failing that, equally among children.
Married, grandchildren. Solicitor, who will set up trust for current & future grandchildren, also arrangements for our kids' partners, couldn't possibly be DiY.

All I can say is that if you had ever seen the heartache and confusion caused by a DIY will that was found to be invalid you would never use one. A classic case is where someone makes a simple will leaving everything to their unmarried partner. The is invalid so the partner does not get a penny under the intestacy rules. The partner is made homeless and, penniless. All for the sake of paying a solicitor £150 to do the job properly. Don.t do it!!!

All I can say is that if you had ever seen the heartache and confusion caused by a DIY will that was found to be invalid you would never use one. A classic case is where someone makes a simple will leaving everything to their unmarried partner. The is invalid so the partner does not get a penny under the intestacy rules. The partner is made homeless and, penniless. All for the sake of paying a solicitor £150 to do the job properly. Don.t do it!!!

Conversely, for balance, we have also seen the heartache caused by a professionally drawn up valid will, that was not fit for purpose at the time of death....as hadn't been reviewed for many years and ended up doing exactly what the testator DIDN'T want.

" That pound I saved yesterday, is a pound I don't have to earn tomorrow "

Conversely, for balance, we have also seen the heartache caused by a professionally drawn up valid will, that was not fit for purpose at the time of death....as hadn't been reviewed for many years and ended up doing exactly what the testator DIDN'T want.

I'm just saying, there can be issues with wills regardless of who draws them up. It's not a "do once and forget" task.

A known and recommended Solicitor did our first wills, in the full knowledge that we were engaged, and had bought a house together (the whole reason for getting the wills done)...but it turned out that he didn't include the "in contemplation of marriage clause" (which we had absolutely no knowledge of at the time, so didn't know it was needed), so went for years thinking we had valid wills drawn up by a qualified Solicitor!!!

You can't ask for something you don't know exists....that's their job. Not ALL of them do it very well.

" That pound I saved yesterday, is a pound I don't have to earn tomorrow "

I'm just saying, there can be issues with wills regardless of who draws them up. It's not a "do once and forget" task.

A known and recommended Solicitor did our first wills, in the full knowledge that we were engaged, and had bought a house together (the whole reason for getting the wills done)...but it turned out that he didn't include the "in contemplation of marriage clause" (which we had absolutely no knowledge of at the time, so didn't know it was needed), so went for years thinking we had valid wills drawn up by a qualified Solicitor!!!

You can't ask for something you don't know exists....that's their job. Not ALL of them do it very well.

Conversely, for balance, we have also seen the heartache caused by a professionally drawn up valid will, that was not fit for purpose at the time of death....as hadn't been reviewed for many years and ended up doing exactly what the testator DIDN'T want.

To be fair, the fact that the will hadn't been reviewed for many years wasn't the fault of the professional who drew up the original one. Our solicitor certainly told us that we should review ours at regular intervals, especially if our circumstances/wishes changed.

I'm not in the legal profession (retired LGPS administrator) but I do have experience of dealing with the fall-out from DIY wills. In one case, the WH Smith diy job seemed perfectly legit in that it had been properly signed and witnessed etc. Unfortunately, the retired LGPS pensioner used the will to 'leave' his unmarried partner his LGPS benefits - but this wasn't possible under the rules in effect at the time the chap retired (ie, pension to legally married spouse only). This case dragged on for some time as the partner wouldn't accept that this part of the will had 'failed'.

Will writing company , looks fine until you see the extortionate fees for execution of it

Solicitor will , yes you could get a bad apple but 99% ok and you can choose to have options to self manage execution of will or allow solicitor to do it . Solicitor is required to give you list of feeds. Simple updates can be done by codicil rather than full rewrite.

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All I can say is that if you had ever seen the heartache and confusion caused by a DIY will that was found to be invalid you would never use one. A classic case is where someone makes a simple will leaving everything to their unmarried partner. The will(I added that word you presumably just missed it? ) is invalid so the partner does not get a penny under the intestacy rules. The partner is made homeless and, penniless. All for the sake of paying a solicitor £150 to do the job properly. Don.t do it!!!

Are you saying in that case the will was invalid just because it left everything to an unmarried partner (seems strange?) , or it was invalid due to another issue and therefore failed to accomplish the aims of leaving to unmarried partner ?

To be fair, the fact that the will hadn't been reviewed for many years wasn't the fault of the professional who drew up the original one. Our solicitor certainly told us that we should review ours at regular intervals, especially if our circumstances/wishes changed.

I'm not in the legal profession (retired LGPS administrator) but I do have experience of dealing with the fall-out from DIY wills. In one case, the WH Smith diy job seemed perfectly legit in that it had been properly signed and witnessed etc. Unfortunately, the retired LGPS pensioner used the will to 'leave' his unmarried partner his LGPS benefits - but this wasn't possible under the rules in effect at the time the chap retired (ie, pension to legally married spouse only). This case dragged on for some time as the partner wouldn't accept that this part of the will had 'failed'.

That's probably equally likely with a solicitor, who could not be expected to know the LGPS rules either. There are many other similar possibilities although solicitor might be expected to correct some more obvious ones, eg you wouldnt want "I leave 43 Acacia Avenue, Walthamstead....." you'd want "I leave my main residence.... " or " i leave all property owned by me...".

FWIW I splashed the cash on a solicitor drawn up one. And also left the original with the solicitor, I find it strange that people keep the originals at home where they could easily be lost or destroyed (possibly in the same fire that does for the testator!) , the repercussions of that can be worse than some sections of a will being invalid.

Are you saying in that case the will was invalid just because it left everything to an unmarried partner (seems strange?) , or it was invalid due to another issue and therefore failed to accomplish the aims of leaving to unmarried partner ?

The will was invalid because it was not correctly witnessed. Of course it could be for any other reason but the result would be the same. Also remember if solicitor gets it wrong the beficiaries can sue.

To be fair, the fact that the will hadn't been reviewed for many years wasn't the fault of the professional who drew up the original one. Our solicitor certainly told us that we should review ours at regular intervals, especially if our circumstances/wishes changed.

I'm not in the legal profession (retired LGPS administrator) but I do have experience of dealing with the fall-out from DIY wills. In one case, the WH Smith diy job seemed perfectly legit in that it had been properly signed and witnessed etc. Unfortunately, the retired LGPS pensioner used the will to 'leave' his unmarried partner his LGPS benefits - but this wasn't possible under the rules in effect at the time the chap retired (ie, pension to legally married spouse only). This case dragged on for some time as the partner wouldn't accept that this part of the will had 'failed'.Originally posted by Silvertabby

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That's probably equally likely with a solicitor, who could not be expected to know the LGPS rules either. There are many other similar possibilities although solicitor might be expected to correct some more obvious ones, eg you wouldnt want "I leave 43 Acacia Avenue, Walthamstead....." you'd want "I leave my main residence.... " or " i leave all property owned by me...".

FWIW I splashed the cash on a solicitor drawn up one. And also left the original with the solicitor, I find it strange that people keep the originals at home where they could easily be lost or destroyed (possibly in the same fire that does for the testator!) , the repercussions of that can be worse than some sections of a will being invalid.

True, but I would expect any half decent solicitor to at least ask if it is possible to bequeath a pension in this way - and to check the scheme rules if they are unsure. After all, I could tell my solicitor that I wanted to change my Will to say that I wanted to leave the Crown Jewels to my niece................

I'm not sure about cost-wise where you are, or what worldly goods you have, or how complicated your current will is, but - I've just made my first will and used a local solicitor to draw it up. It's basically simple (I don't have children/grandkids/multiple properties/squillions of pounds) and it cost me £70. I'm not in the swishest area of the country though so perhaps that's not representative.

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